Neither Google or Zynga have responded to the speculation, although the the online gaming company is known to have raised close to $500m in the past year, including a $150m round led by Japan’s Softbank Capital and $180m led by Digital Sky Technologies.

Google took part in the investment round led by Softbank Capital and intends to make Zynga the cornerstone of its Google Games platform, which will launch later this year, according to reports that cite sources close to the deal.

Zynga has created some of the most popular Facebook games, such as Farmville, and has recently signed deals with Microsoft and Yahoo to add its titles to their portals (nma.co.uk 27 May).